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Parkin first became known in Doctor Who fan circles, writing both criticism and fan fiction. His most notable work was for Seventh Door Fanzines, including the novella Snare in the Odyssey series (which he edited for a period) and 1994's The Doctor Who Chronology, a detailed timeline of events in the Doctor Who universe. The Odyssey series later included novellas by Parkin's then-girlfriend Cassandra May and his later protégé Mark Clapham.

Parkin's first professional novel, Just War, published in 1996, for Virgin's New Adventures series of original fiction Doctor Who novels. This was followed by A History of the Universe (a re-working of his Chronology) and a second novel, Cold Fusion, for Virgin's Missing Adventures series.

Virgin lost the licence to publish Doctor Who fiction, and Parkin landed the job of writing the last New Adventure to feature the character of the Doctor, 1997's The Dying Days. This was also the only Virgin novel to feature the eighth incarnation of the Doctor, played in the 1996 Doctor Whotelevision movie by Paul McGann. The Virgin Who books went out of print with the loss of the Doctor Who licence and The Dying Days. The New Adventures continued without the Doctor Who label and Parkin returned to the series with 1998's Beige Planet Mars, written with Mark Clapham.

A trademark of Parkin's Doctor Who novels is the inclusion of a character written as if played by Ian Richardson, beginning with Oscar Steinmann in Just War. Parkin has said "I’m sure there was a very good reason for that at one point, but if there is, I’ve forgotten it".[2]

Around 1999, Parkin joined Virgin alumni Rebecca Levene and Gareth Roberts to work on the production team of television soap Emmerdale. He also once appeared as an extra in the series.[3] Though he never scripted episodes for television, he later wrote both non-fiction (including 30 Years of Emmerdale) and fiction (Mandy's Secret Diary, Their Finest Hour) connected to the series. He has not worked in TV since leaving Emmerdale.

Parkin also writes non-fiction, including guides to Star Trek (Beyond the Final Frontier) and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series (Dark Matters: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Philip Pullman's 'Dark Materials' Trilogy), both written with long-time friend Mark Jones, and Secret Identities: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Alias with Mark Clapham.

This was followed by Miranda, a comic based on a character in his Doctor Who novel Father Time. The comic was published through Comeuppance Comics, an independent comic company that shut down after three issues. With Parkin's permission, Miranda was killed off in the Doctor Who book Sometime Never... by Justin Richards.